


As we Ignore the Monsters

by Maedom



Category: Newsies (1992), Newsies - All Media Types, Newsies!: the Musical - Fierstein/Menken
Genre: Angst, Anxiety Attacks, Depression, Everyone Is Gay, Foster Care, Gay Panic, Hard of a Hearing Davey, Homophobia, Implied/Referenced Child Abuse, Multi, We love and respect Sarah Jacobs in this house, wooo tagging is hard
Language: English
Status: In-Progress
Published: 2019-05-14
Updated: 2020-01-27
Packaged: 2020-03-05 12:46:03
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 4
Words: 6,603
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/18828937
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/Maedom/pseuds/Maedom
Summary: “What about friends?” Jack asked.A small smile crept on to the other boy’s face as he grabbed Jacks hands and linked his two pointer fingers together and then switched them.“Friends,” David said as he signed it on his own.“Is that what we are?” He asked. Jack just nodded his head as he focused on how to make the sign look as perfect as David’s.There in a quiet classroom, empty of everybody but two boys, a friendship began.//A one-shot that I liked so much that I’m writing a whole ass fic for it//





	1. D-A-V-Y

**Author's Note:**

> Hey! So some of you might remember when I posted a one shot of this and I ended up deciding to make this a multi chapter doc because I got so attached to this idea/plot.

D-A-V-I-D. The boy spelled out, his fingers following those of the kid next to him. David simply laughed as the boy stared intently at his hands willing them to form the right shapes. 

“Hey! What’s funny?” The boy said dropping his hands and crossing his arms.  
“You don’t have to try so hard,” David replied.  
“Fine. What about me? Jack?”  
David showed the letters and carefully helped Jack spell out J-A-C-K.  
They laughed as they made crazy shapes as they signed J and as Jack messed up some of the words. 

“What about friends?” Jack asked.  
A small smile crept on to the other boy’s face as he grabbed Jacks hands and linked his two pointer fingers together and then switched them.  
“Friends,” David said as he signed it on his own.  
“Is that what we are?” He asked. Jack just nodded his head as he focused on how to make the sign look as perfect as David’s. 

There in a quiet classroom, empty of everybody but two boys, a friendship began.

-

As the year grew on, David became Davey as Jacks confusion with I and Y became permanent. And in their childlike bliss, both of them decided to ignore the shadows that threatened to shatter their world. They both ignored the bruises on Jack’s face and the failing grades that Davey got. They ignored the tears in Jack’s eyes and the fleeting sounds in Davey’s ears. They ignored the monsters clawing at them and tightly held each other’s hands.

-

Sarah worried about her younger brother. She felt partly responsible for the problems that David faced. Many times she felt helpless, as if she could do nothing but sit and watch while her brother went up against the world. She watched as he struggled to understand the ongoing conversations and the silence in his ears. She heard the sobs that he couldn’t hear and his voice that he didn’t know.

She also saw what he didn’t see. How the medical bills and the prices for his hearing aids forced both of their parents to work two jobs and move them from a private school to a public school.

She knew that her parents were not available to help him, so she spent hours and hours researching and watching videos on sign language, so that she could teach him. She sat with him as he cried and helped him sound out words phonetically. She assured him that his voice was not too high, and cheered him on when he said a sentence correctly.

She was genuinely happy when David met Jack, it was nice to know that David wasn’t alone and that someone would help him at school. They didn’t have enough money for an interpreter and with David’s hearing aids he would be fine. But Sarah couldn’t pretend to notice David skipped over his homework in frustration because he never heard it. She knew that unless the teacher was right there in front of him, there would be gaps in his understanding.

As much as Sarah liked Jack she couldn’t help but be worried; he was the first person who had even talked or paid attention to her brother, and she knew that it wasn’t going to last forever. 

So when Jack didn’t show up for school without telling Davey, Sarah couldn’t help but feel angry and doubtful. Once again she was the only one around to help calm down a devastated David and watch as a lack of friends caused him to retreat into himself even more. 

-

The Jacobs family moved around often. The three children were used to never staying in one place for a very long time. The three children were all very close due to the absence of their parents and were used to taking care of each other.  
Their parents, Esther and Mayer Jacobs had fallen in love at a young age and seemed perfect for each other. They loved their children very much and if they hadn’t had to work so much they would spend hours with each of them. While the Jacobs family were very happy, they didn’t have a lot of money and they were used to living on a budget and working at ungodly hours in the morning. 

Because of this, problems were unspoken in the family. They had no time to complain or be unhappy. No one talked about David’s hearing or Les’s ADHD. They never reminded their children about their schoolwork, it was just implied that they had to do well. Even though they never talked about it they knew that there were problems that were only spoken in the empty darkness of the kids’ room. Fears and worries that were accompanied by hushed whispers and tightly held hands.

-

David woke up to Les jumping repeatedly on the top bunk and the bedframe shaking vigorously. David sat up in his bed and hit the bed.  
“Damn it, Les!”  
Les giggled and swung himself off the bed.  
“Come on Davey-Boy, it’s moving day!” Les ran out of the room while David looked at Sarah’s empty bed. David yawned hugely and looked around the room that had been stripped of all the posters and glow in the dark stars. There were stacks of boxes haphazardly strewn across the room and David sighed.

It wasn’t like he wasn’t used to moving but he was not ready to move into a new city in the middle of summer where he would know nobody. As many times as the family had moved, David had never really gotten used to being an outcast. As much as he preferred his solitude, he felt quite lonely and envied how easily Les and Sarah made friends. 

He sighed heavily and ran a hand through his hair. He blinked his eyes open and fumbled for a sweatshirt as he made his way to the kitchen for breakfast.  
His family was sitting at the small cramped table with a box of donuts sitting in the middle. 

He slid into his seat and grabbed a glazed donut licking his fingers as he placed it down. He didn't pay much attention to the conversations that were happening around him so when he heard his name being called multiple times he looked up in confusion.

“Um, excuse me?”  
“I said, how are you feeling about the move David? We’ve heard from-,” The rest of his mother’s sentence a jumbled mess due to Les and Sarah fighting over the number of donut holes.  
David simply shrugged as he chewed his food.  
“It’s fine I guess, I’m just nervous about living in the city.”  
His mom gave a small reassuring smile as David finished off the rest of his donut and wiped his hands. As he stood up to clear his plat his mother met him and gave him a small squeeze on the shoulder and said,  
“Don’t you worry too much, okay boychik? Things will be okay.” David smiled at his mother’s reassurance and signed ‘yes, I know mama’ back at her. He waited for his nod and then turned and told his father that he was going to start moving things into the car. 

He went back to their room and began to pick up all of his belongings that he wanted to keep with him in the car. He checked the batteries in his hearing aids and turned them on. He slid them 0n his ears and adjusted the volume a bit to the heightened noise. 

He shoved all of his stuff into a backpack and sat on it as he tried to zip it up. When it finally closed he grabbed a couple of boxes and went down the hallway to the front door. In front of the small house, there was a moving van and multiple men who were helping load the furniture. In the midst of it all stood Mayer Jacobs his arm in a sling and directing all of the chaos. David set his boxes down and walked to him. 

“Hey papa, do you need help?”  
His father turned to him. “No, I’m good David,” Mr. Jacobs then turned and shouted at the moving people to help him move the bed into the truck. David ignored the shouts and grunts and carried his and Les’ couple of boxes into the back of the van.

When his siblings finally came out of the house and got settled in the car it was around ten in the morning and David had already had enough of the whole moving thing. He sat in the backseat of the car, squeezed next to Les and quietly read a book occasionally getting lost outside of the window. The car ride was filled with sibling bickering and the mundane boredom that came along with a car drive. They stopped for sandwiches and then continued driving, sharing the iPad among them all. 

When they finally arrived in the city it had been 8 hours in the car and all of them were ready to kill each other. The bright lights of the city billboards shone through the car window and reflected onto their faces. Never in David’s whole life had he felt so insignificant as the buildings and skyscrapers outside seemed to tower over them. 

Les’ head sank onto his shoulder and he looked over at Sarah as he pointed at the kid. Sarah merely shook her head and signed if felt okay, he shook his hand yes and signed for her not to worry. 

She gave him her trademark older sister look as she sighed and returned to her book. 

The fragments of light shifted and flashed onto his lap as the car drove past buildings, rays of white, purple and yellow flashed on David’s face as they pulled up to a large, ancient looking, brick building. 

He tapped on Les’ shoulder as his mother began to get out of the car. Les stirred and buried his head even farther into David’s shoulder. David sighed and readjusted his brother as he pushed open the door. Immediately he was hit by a disgusting smell, unlike anything that he had smelled before in his life. He scrunched up his nose and switched to breathing solely through his nose. Les stirred a bit in his arms and David hiked him up a bit as he shifted his grip to grab his bag as well. He followed his father into the front door of the buildings and watched as his father talked to the security guard. As his father and the security guard began to take out papers David shifted his attention to the sleeping boy in his arms and laid Les down on a chair inside of the cozy lobby, and signed to his dad that he was going to help Sarah and his mom unload. 

He walked back out into the sharp cold night air and was hit with a burst of homesickness, the flashing lights and the pounding seemed to make what little noise he heard even louder and he slipped out his hearing aids, turned them off, and slipped them into his pocket. He rubbed his eyes and shook his head trying to focus and not pay attention to his feelings. He quietly began sorting through the stuff in the backseat of their van, trying to ignore how Sarah and his mother were already arguing and the reddening of Sarah’s face as their mother dragged a hand over face and sighed. 

He walked over to where a couple of the movers were hauling furniture and carpets out of the truck and began to grab smaller boxes and lighter things to carry out. Sarah and his mother joined him despite Esther pointedly not looking in Sarah’s direction. When his father finally came over to where they were unpacking he explained to them that the guard was reluctant to help let them move in due to noise they would cause so late at night. The guard finally gave in when he took in the disheveled look of the family and with the reassurance that they had moved plenty of times before and knew what they were doing. 

By the time that they had gotten all of the heavy and unwieldy furniture into their 5th-floor apartment, they dismissed the movers and moved the last of the boxes into the elevator. David gazed longingly at Les, who was still asleep in Sarah’s arms. Sometimes he still wished that he was 9 years old.

As his father entered the elevator, a boy rushed into the lobby, out of breath, and eyes frantic as he fumbled with his keys and ID to show the security guard. David felt his eyes lock with the boy and felt something go through him, recognition and familiarity. He saw the dark hair and brown eyes and whispered,  
“Jack?”


	2. Friends

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Jack and Davey begin to remember parts of their life that they hadn't thought about for years.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> I swear I promise I will update sooner next time, but enjoy this short lil chapter!

D-A-V-Y. Jack’s hands formed the letters, feeling so unfamiliar and yet so comfortable and safe at the same time. He stood there in the lobby out of breath, those green hazel eyes still flickering in his mind. He was stuck between the point of telling himself that it was impossible and wrenching the doors on the elevator apart. 

It would be impossible. Even it was really Davey, how would he explain to the boy all of the thing that had changed through the years. Neither of them would be the same person, would he even still listen to Jack as he had then? He sighed and pressed the elevator button, leaning against the wall and pushing away all of the hopes that had even come to his mind.

Davey probably didn’t even remember him, although Sarah probably did. Dear God, she must hate him now. Stop.

He hated how even with a small glance at the boy he opened up a part of his life that he had pushed away. He hated how those green eyes and those soft hands made his heart warm even 5 years later.

The elevator doors opened and Jack walked into the elevator. He went through the routine movements of pressing the button and leaning back against the wall. Everything felt slowed down. It seemed forever until he entered Medda’s apartment with a dazed look on his face. 

He went to his room and sat down on his bed to stare at the wall. He took off his his jacket and dropped it in the floor. He plugged his phone in and ran a hand through his hair, his whole body was on autopilot. He absentmindedly sat down on his bed and rolled his neck.

He didn’t even notice that Crutchie had entered the room until the younger boy was sitting next to him.  
“Jack?”   
Jack startled and blinked his eyes rapidly.  
“Oh, hey,” Jack ran a hand through his hair and laid back on the bed.  
“Jack what happened,” Crutchie asked prodding Jack with the bottom of his crutch.  
Jack sighed and poked Crutchie in the side.  
“Nothing. Don’t worry about it,” Crutchie raised his eyebrows as he eased his way off of the bed.  
“Okay, but I’m here to talk, okay Jack?” Jack bounced of his bed with a shake of his head.  
“I told you I’m fine Crutch, come on, let’s go watch some Queer Eye,”

-

It wasn’t until much later that day did David find his thoughts drifting back to the boy that he had seen in the lobby. He had spent most of the day helping his family unpack and making sure that Les didn’t break anything. By the time the beds had been reassembled and the kids’ room in some array of organization did David find himself staring up at the white ceiling of his new apartment. Sarah has gone out with her parents to help buy groceries and David had finished putting the living room together and sorting everything into the right rooms and locations. 

David flinched as he felt a loud thud come from outside the room followed immediately by a muffled “I’m okay!” He shook his head at his younger brother and continued to organize his desk. The room was smaller than their last house but not the smallest he’d lived in. Sarah had already strung fairy lights over her bed, claiming that it was the only thing that she needed to unpack.

As he hung up old photos of himself when he was younger, he came across a crumpled piece of paper that was stuck in a broken picture frame. The photo had been printed out on their old black and white printer. He opened the frame and flattened the piece of paper. 

Of course.

It was Jack. It was his eyes, his smile, and he had his arm slung around David’s neck. It was him. There was no way to deny it. That the boy in the lobby was the same as the goofy grinned kid in the photo. A person who he never thought he would see again.

He stood frozen over the desk with the photo in his hand and his heart pounding through his chest. Almost every part of him wanted to run out the apartment and knock on every door until he found him. And yet memories of 12 year old David, showing up at school to find Jack gone made him stay rooted to the ground. Jack had left him. And he always would.

-

Dinner that night was quiet. Medda seemed to sense that something had happened to Jack and didn’t try to make as much conversation as much as she normally did. Jack put on a smile and quietly ate his chicken, pretending not to see the glances that Crutchie and Medda kept exchanging. 

“Jack, honey, is everything okay?” Medda questioned him, reaching a hand out him, Jack nodded and gave a small smile.   
“Don’t worry, I’m fine,” He slid out of his chair and brought his plate to the kitchen.   
“I’ll be in my room,” He walked out down the hallway and shut his bedroom door. 

Medda gave Crutchie a look,   
“I’ll talk to him,” He grabbed his crutches and followed Jack down the hallway.

Jack rummaged through his drawers, cursing under his breath.   
“Where the hell is it?!” He dropped down onto his knees, and stuck his head under his bed. 

Crutchie entered the room to see Jack’s head under the bed, and his butt in the air. He stifled a laugh.

“Thank god,” Jack slid back out from under the bed and startled to see Crutchie staring down at him. Jack raised an unimpressed eyebrow,  
“Medda sent you.” It wasn’t a question as much as it was a statement. Jack got back up on his feet and sat down in the bed, his sketchbook in hand. He fumbled around in his pockets for a pencil. 

“Of course Medda sent me,” Crutchie sat down next to him and handed him a pencil.  
Jack propped up his knee and flipped to a random page beginning to sketch out the shape of two hands. 

“Jack, you’re doing so well, what going on?” Crutchie frowned at Jack,  
‘Look you know Medda doesn’t care about you getting detention, she just wants to make sure that you are trying your best.” 

Jack furiously erased a part of his sketch.  
“It’s not detention Crutch, it’s just, I just saw someone, that’s all,” Crutchie’s brow furrowed.  
“Your dad?” Jack’s hands froze,  
“No, that son of a bitch is gone. It was just an old ex or something,” Crutchie nodded. He fiddled with his hands as he continued to watch Jack sketch. The two brothers sat in silence with Crutchie leaning his head onto Jack’s shoulder.

Jack brushed off the paper and continued to do minor adjustments, Crutchie looked over in curiosity staring at the detailed hands on the paper,  
“What does it mean?” Jack looked up from his paper and looked Crutchie in the eye,  
“It’s sign language for friends,”


	3. Sarah punches people now

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> In which the author proves that this fic is not dead and their writing sucks chicken butt

The Jacobs had lived in their new apartment for almost two weeks and things began to settle down as they got used to the rhythm of their new home. David and Sarah had explored the neighborhood and had visited the school that they would be attending in the fall. Sarah had already gone out shopping and David had dragged Les to the library and a nearby museum. Their dad had already returned to work and things fell back to normal. Once again they had been displaced, but they had already quickly adapted to their new life.

David pretended like he hadn’t thought about Jack, like he hadn’t been simultaneously looking for him everywhere while also hoping that he wouldn’t run into him. He had shoved the picture of Jack in a drawer and yet later that night Les would find him asleep with the piece of paper clenched in his hand. The boy seemed to drift around his consciousness every waking second. It was a strange feeling. This feeling of wanting to see someone who he hated so much. He blamed Jack for leaving him alone and yet a part of him was terrified that if he talked to Jack he would forgive him in a heartbeat. It was this feeling of being suspended in the air, a balancing act between his past and the person who he was now.

-

David held Les’s hand as he led him up the stairs despite his brother’s groaning,  
“There’s an elevator like ten feet away, why do we have to take the stairs?”  
“Because, you need exercise if you’re going to go play on the iPad for two hours,” David simply tugged his brother’s hand harder and chuckled softly as Les continued to whine all the way up.

As soon as David had opened the door to his apartment Les flopped on the sofa and David headed to their bedroom. He was ready to open his phone and watch buzzfeed unsolved in an attempt to distract himself. He opened the door to see Sarah sitting on his bed with her arms crossed. He raised an unimpressed eyebrow and made his way over to his desk.  
“Les took your charger, it wasn’t me,” he grumbled.

He heard Sarah take a quick breath.  
“Do you remember Jack Kelly?”

-

Crutchie loved his brother. It didn’t matter if they were biologically related or not, he would trust Jack with his life and knew that Jack would do the same for him. 

Crutchie loved his brother, but as Jack stumbled into the apartment, curses falling from his mouth and clutching his nose, he could confidently say that he was done with the boy.

“Son of a bitch, I swear on my fucking-” Jack threw his jacket on a chair and stumbled down the hall. Crutchie merely watched with a bemused look on his face as Jack fumbled with the fridge and grabbed an ice pack. 

“Don’t even start Crutch,” Jack grumbled as he placed the pack on his face and settled onto the sofa. Crutchie raised his arms in the air.  
“I wasn’t going to,” He let out with a soft chuckle, setting down his phone and shifting to face Jack.

Jack shifted in his seat and tilted his head back, letting out a soft groan. “Where in the fuck?’

Crutchie sighed and pushed himself up, settling next to Jack. He leaned in and pushed Jack’s hand away. He breathed in sharply before letting out a stark laugh. 

 

“What on Earth! Who-?’  
Crutchie burst into laughter ignoring Jack’s glare as he placed back the ice pack on his eye. Crutchie’s laughter finally dissolved noticing Jack’s stiff posture and red nose. 

 

“Jack?” Crutchie scooted over and sat closer to his brother worriedly grabbing Jack’s hand. Surprised to see no blood or bruising Crutchie looked up. 

 

“Jack, who punched you? And why didn’t you…” Jack threw the ice pack down on the floor and placed his arm on the arm of the sofa. 

 

“Crutch, I-” Jack scrubbed his face with his hands, gently rubbing the darkening shiner. Crutchie furrowed his brows and crossed his arms waiting for an answer. 

“Jack Kelly. Explain. Before I personally add another shiner to that face,” Jack huffed defensively and looked away from Crutchie. 

“Look, I-” Jack stuttered over his words, trying to figure out how to phrase this. How to sort out his feelings enough to explain it to someone else. Sarah’s words echoed in his mind. And he felt his insides churn, his head pounding, not just near his eye but out of what to do. David Jacobs was from his past. Part of him that he had rarely told even Crutchie about. How was he to even begin to explain that that gentle minded boy was the reason that he survived his father. David was connected to something that Jack had buried long ago and something that he never wanted to go over again.

Jack looked up to see Crutchie with one eyebrow raised, waiting for a response.

“Charlie…” Crutchie sat up straighter, and his face softened knowing what Jack was alluding to. 

“I ruined someone’s life, and they saved mine,” Crutchie furrowed his brows, confused at what Jack was saying but squeezing his hand nonetheless. 

“I thought they were gone like my father, but, I-uh,” Jack swiped at his eyes standing up and running a hand through his hair. Crutchie simply stood up and nodded pulling Jack into a tight hug, squeezing him tighter to let him know that it was gone. 

“He’s gone Jack. It’s gone, you’re Jack Kelly now, mmmkay?” Jack nodded mutely on Crutchie’s shoulder a part of him wishing that he believed what his brother was saying.

-

Davey’s whole body froze. He began to feel his breathing become rapid and he gripped the chair for support. Immediately Sarah was by his side, fussing over him and reminding him to take in breathes, whispering soothing words that he couldn’t hear and wouldn’t help him anyways. 

Sarah led him to the bed, placing a pillow in his lap for him to squeeze and kneeling in front of him with a cautious smile on her face. She waved her hand to get Davey’s attention and he looked up, his arms wrapped tightly around the pillow. 

She squeezed her hands before lifting them up to sign, *You remember Jack Kelly, right?* Davey nodded, his heart doing a little skip as she signed the J and a memory hit him. He bit his lip and looked away.

Sarah’s hands hovered in the air, shaking. *Davey, he’s here* Davey squeezed his eyes shut as the buzzing in his head grew even louder and the tears building up in his eyes threatened to pour. He had known it was Jack, but somehow seeing Sarah sign it made it feel all the more real. His chest clenched. He didn’t know why he was crying. Maybe Jack Kelly was the first of a long line of people to betray him. Maybe because he was the only person Davey could ever talk to. Maybe a part of him knew that he couldn’t hate the boy no matter what he did.

-

It was the first time that they had talked, truly talked. David had been sitting alone, arms wrapped around his legs as he silently ate his sandwich another lunch spent sitting alone in his muffled silence. He felt a tap on his shoulder and he jerked up his head to see a boy with messy long brown hair waving at him with a big smile on his face. David hesitantly waved back worried that this boy had come to pick on him. 

David’s fear quickly dissolved when in sloppy messy movements he signed *Can I sit?* David looked up, astonished and in awe, nodding his head and scooting over willingly. 

Jack promptly stuck out his hand, “I’m Jack,” He said pointing to himself as emphasis.  
“I’m David,” He made sure to watch his enunciation trying to pronounce his words like his sister had taught him. Jack nodded with a smile.

“So you have bad ears,” Jack stated, almost simply. David’s smile faded as he nodded, looking down at his lap.  
“That’s cool! My aunt has bad eyes and she has these really cool glasses,” David looked up, his eyes leaving the boy’s lips to look up and see the brightness in Jack’s eyes. David slowly nodded,  
“Yeah, I guess it’s kind of cool,” David smiled back at Jack and felt surprised to see the boy smiling back. 

Jack nudged David his hand making a finger puppet bunny. Jack had such a corny grin on his face that David couldn’t help bursting into laughter, David responded by making a coyote with is hand. Jack laughed back and David felt a genuine smile grow on his face. Was this boy actually talking to him? 

They spent the lunch talking about random things, the book they were reading in class to how stupid the game four square was. By the time that the bell rang David felt actually sad that it was time to go back to class, Jack noticed his shoulders droop and grabbed David’s hand, “Hey, come on, you can sit at my table,” David nodded letting Jack pull him inside and feeling that maybe things might get better. 

-  
Davey was curled up in Sarah’s arms, sitting in the middle of the floor. She rubbed small circles onto his back as he counted his breaths, feeling the panic dull. 

“I thought you had to know,” Sarah said,  
“I know,” He still didn’t look up, focusing instead on a certain point on the wall.  
“I yelled at him for you,” Davey didn’t acknowledge what she said. He didn’t know why he felt bad for Jack when she said that, didn’t he want to yell at Jack as well? Or did he just want to run into his arms.  
“I punched him,” Davey shot up out of her arms his hands moving in a frantic *WHAT THE FUCK*  
“You punched him!” Davey shook his head at his sister, astonished at how she could continually surprise him.  
“He hurt you!” She pulled him back into her lap, “Besides I didn’t know what to do, I panicked,”

Davey sighed, leaning into her chest. He didn’t know how he felt. He knew Sarah wouldn’t understand how complicated this was. That not a day went by when he didn’t think of him, Jack had embedded himself so thoroughly into Davey’s childhood, and as his life only got more twisted and confusing he knew why he wanted Jack back.

Jack had always been simple, safe, peaceful. The part of his childhood that was normal, the part of all of his memories that were perfect and beautiful. Jack made him feel normal. And Davey hated that even all these years later he still wanted nothing more than to just be normal.


	4. Jack Fucking Kelly

Sarah was, to put it simply, exhausted. She was tired of moving, tired of taking Davey and having no one taking care of her, she was tired of her mom and dad having to pour all of their energy into their work instead of taking care of her and her siblings. She was tired that her Dad’s job made him keep moving and that even as perfect as New York was, she wouldn’t stay here for long. 

Sarah loved the city. It was one of the first times that she could walk down the street without anyone knowing who she was or who her brothers were. Davey seemed to be happy in the city, he had visited almost every library and Les had made Davey take him to on the double decker busses three times. Their mom had found a job and their life had fallen into a peaceful rhythm where they didn’t know anybody but they had each other, as broken as their family was. 

-

Sarah was walking down one of the crowded streets, absentmindedly counting the amount of Duane Reade’s she passed. ‘Why the fuck are there ones on every corner?’ she muttered. She turned onto their street and entered the apartment building, giving a slight nod to the security officer who stood by the desk in the lobby. She crossed to the elevator and gave a smile to the boy who stood next to the elevator on her phone. The button was already lit up so she leaned against the wall and checked her phone.

“Jacobs?”

Sarah’s eyes narrowed and she looked up from the phone, where she was met with a guilty looking teenage boy whose brown eyes were so strikingly familiar. It hit her as the boy asked   
“Sarah?” 

She growled and jammed her phone in her back pocket, taking a step towards him. 

“Jack Kelly,” She shook her head, “You motherfucker,” She swung her fist at him smirking at the crack he heard. Thank god for all of the self defense classes she took. Jack’s hand flew to his face and he bent over, letting out a small groan. She crossed to him.

“What in the actual fuck are you doing here?” She asked,

“I live here?” Even with his nose bleeding Jack remained as sarcastic as ever.

Sarah ignored the fact that someone she hated so much lived in the same building as her. 

“How dare you hurt my brother so much, how dare you leave me to pick up the pieces, and how dare you, show your face anywhere near us again,’ He opened his mouth to protest but she squatted down and smacked him.

“You took someone who trusted you with his entire life and made him feel worthless for years, you left without saying anything! Oh! And what really fucking sucks! Is that you took advantage of him! Of my brother!” Sarah’s whole body shook, “You’re an absolute piece of shit Jack Kelly and I hope you stay away from my brother,” She stood up and got in the elevator,   
“I swear to god, if you hurt my brother again I will destroy you,”

The elevator doors didn’t close immediately and she stood there as the doors shut, ignoring the tears on Jack’s face.

 

-

 

It had been three days since Jack first hadn’t shown up to school. Davey had been extremely worried and Sarah had walked him home from school each day, consoling him and telling him that everything was fine, that ‘No they didn’t need to go to his house,’ and ‘No, Jack was not abducted by aliens,’ For a 12 year old boy Davey had an insane imagination.

When they entered their beaten down home, Sarah took Davey’s backpack and made him a snack telling him to go play with baby Les. It was funny that even though Sarah was only two years older than Davey how much more mature she was expected to be. She got out a couple of ritz crackers and spread some peanut butter on them putting them on a plastic plate with Disney princesses on it. She was licking peanut butter off of her fingers when she heard the doorbell ring, she opened the door to see a beaten up Jack, blood streaming from his nose, Sarah stood at the door, frozen in shock, “Uh, come in Jack, Davey’s upstairs,” She watched as he walked up the stairs she closed the door staring after him in disbelief. Shaking her head she ran to the freezer and grabbed a bag of frozen broccoli and searching the cupboards for a box of bandaids. 

She ran to the stairs and stood at the base of the stairs conflicted on whether or not she should give them to Jack, on the other hand Jack had never liked her that much and after seeing how hurt he was she decided to leave him alone. She crept up to the top of the stairs and placed the frozen broccoli and the first aid kit by the door. She heard a muffled thud and shook her head going downstairs to work on her homework and cook dinner. 

She tried to focus, but she was unable to. She had so many questions about Jack and about why Davey loved him so much. Ever since they had been friends Davey had been more confident but he had also gotten into trouble more, Sarah was wary Jack but seeing how happy he made Davey made her almost able to tolerate him. Almost. 

By the time that Davey came downstairs the macaroni that she had made was colder than room temperature and she had already sprawled out on the sofa. As Davey ran into the kitchen, she sat up, rubbing at her eyes, waving her hand in the air to get Davey’s attention.

“Davey, what happened is he okay?” 

He nodded, “Yeah, he’s asleep now,” He took a bite of the macaroni, happily chewsing on the noodles. Sarah narrowed his eyes at his grin as he seemed to hum to himself as he ate. Her brother never hummed, feeling too self conscious about her singing voice.

“Davey?” Her voice raised at the end of his name, already suspicious. “Davey are you okay?”

Davey nodded hopping on the arm of the sofa, “I’m great Sarah, just glad that Jack is okay,” 

She nodded and curled back up on the sofa, only slightly mystified as she burrowed into her blanket. 

“Sarah, can you love someone who’s not your family?” He asked. 

Sarah furrowed her brow, “Of course Davey, you can love anyone,” she smiled at him, curious as he kicked his legs back and forth. 

“Why?” She asked. 

“Oh, I just think I love Jack,” Davey smiled as he slipped off the sofa and skipped back up the stairs. Sarah felt herself smile, grateful that as insane as Jack was Davey wasn’t alone. 

-

The next morning Sarah woke up to Davey shaking her harshly, she rubbed her eyes to be met with his tear-stained face, her big sister instincts kicked right into place and she shot up, grabbing him by the shoulders. 

“What happened?”

Davey just shook his head furiously, unable to answer.

“Davey? What happened? Is it Jack?” Davey’s hand raised in the air, clenched in a fist, forming a yes. She looked in his eyes as he shook, removing her hands from him. She signed slowly and clearly,

*David. Tell me what happened*

*Sarah, he’s gone. He took my hearing aids* His hand shook as he placed it next to his ear. Sarah watched as he burst into tears and crumpled into her arms. Her jaw set as she wrapped herself around her brother, feeling herself want to cry, she pulled Davey onto her lap and rubbed his back. She let out a sob thankful that her brother can’t hear it. As her brother shook with tears she felt her soul resolve. Jack Kelly would pay.

-

From that point on the Jacobs family faced even more financial complications, forced to cough up more money for hearing aids. Davey didn’t talk about what had happened the night before. He never mentioned Jack and preferred to be alone instead of trying to make friends at his other schools. Davey wouldn't day I love you as often. Only saying it to Les and her, always being deliberate and cautious when he said it. Sarah watched Davey change from someone who was confident to someone who was so closed off. She watched her mom, try to hide the fact that she blamed Davey for their financial situation. She hated that Jack destroyed Davey to the point of no return and she hated the fact that no matter what, both her and Davey could never forget Jack.

Sarah could never forget how much he fucked them over and Davey could never forget how much he loved him.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Come yell at me on tumblr @stab-me-with-a-stick

**Author's Note:**

> Comments and Kudos are greatly appreciated! Come yell at me on Tumblr: @fiestyshortstop
> 
> -
> 
> My sister is hard of Hearing so I got really attached to Sarah’s POV. I do hope that I portray it as accurately and respectfully as possible. :)


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